Auletta reported last week that Abramson had complained to Sulzberger about the pay gap and had hired a lawyer.

He wrote that Abramson’s 2011 salary was initially $475,000, compared to previous executive editor Bill Keller‘s $559,000. “Her salary was raised to $503,000, and-only after she protested-was raised again to $525,000,” Auletta reported.

Sulzberger said the real issue was Abramson’s handling of the newsroom, and frequent absence.

“Patterns in the newsroom were becoming more obvious, and colleagues were coming to me,” he said.

Sulzberger said Baquet was considered the glue that held the newsroom together, and that he had delivered the publisher an ultimatum of sorts. He had been offered a job at Bloomberg previously.